Evening Star Newspaper, December 18, 1932, Page 52

In the Motor World BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. NEW study of the problem of storage space for automobiles is being conducted by a na- tional committee of traffic and motor vehicle officials under the leadersnip of M. O. Eldridge, assistant director of traffic of the District. Results of the investigation of the matter will be brought to the attention of the American Road Builders’ Asso- ciation at its innual convention in De- troit, January 16-20. The question has been before the Traffic Committee of the city officials' division of the asso- ciation for more than a year. Questions which the committee will seek to answer, in the light of new in- formation will include the utility value of street space occupied by parked ve- hicles and how far a city government is justified in going to provide off-street storage in downtown arcas for cars. In short, the study concerns the relative value of parking space to the city as a whole and to the individual car owner. Parking Restrictions Studied. The committee is considering the various methods now employed, such as parking prohibition and strict time limitations upon street storage in met- ropolitan areas, it is announced. The committee is undertaking to measure the varying degree of effectiveness of such regulations. H. C. Dickinson, chief of the heat- ing and power division of the Bureau of Standards, is a member of the na- tional committee. Among other mem- bers are Harold G. Hoffman, State com- missioner of motor vehicles, Trenton, Hawley Simpson, research engi- American Transit Assoc.ation, and Maxwell Halsey, National Bureau of Underwriters, w York City. traffic engin Casualty and Surety New York City. Late Tag Rush Looms. William A. Van Duzer, director of traffic, estimated this week there will be from 20,000 to 25000 Washington motorists who will be barred from legal use of their automobiles January 1, due to failure to secure their 1933 tags. The office of the traffic director is organized to issue as many as 6,000 tags per day, but the number issued has been running only about 4,000 per day, Mr. Van Duzer reports. This means that when the last-minute rush begins fhe director’s staff will be deluged with more applications per day than it can possibly handle. The result will be that thousands 'of automobile owners will start the new year witnout the use of their machines. “Ther> will be no extension of the time limit.” the director warns, urging car owners to take full opportunity of the few remaining days before the new year opens. Carelessness Is Blamed. Traffic officials are concerned over the increase in the number of fatalities in automobile accidents that occurred here last month. It should be a matter | of real concern for every Washingtonian. The 13 fatalities last month in Wash- ington traffic set the highest November record. Also it was a higher number than was recorded for any month of this year except May, when there were 15 fatalities. Careiessness is the cause of most fatal accidents, one official of the traffic office declares. on the basis of a study of local records. Such a find- ing dictates the exercise of greater | caution and more alertness on the part ©of both pedestrian and driver. Traffic officials this week placed em- phasis on one point revealed in a study of the 13 fatalities of last month; that is, that 11 of the fatalities occurred Botween intersections and not at the crosswalks. They urge this as a power- ful argument for the use of the estab- Tished crosswalks by pedestrians. Federal Gas Tax Opposed. Declaring that the average motorist now pays $25 a year in gasoline taxes alone, the American Automobile Asso- clation opposes the administration pro- posal to continue the 1l-cent Federal | tax beyond next June, in a statement ued under the signature of Thomas . Henry, Detroit, president of the body. The proposal is all the more serious because it comes at a time when de- creesed gasoline consumption in 34 Statos reflects a large number of cars being withdrawn from the road and curtailment in motor vehicle use gen- erally, he declares, “In addition,” he said, “the entire fighway program threatened by re- duced revenues, and the twin evil, Whelesale are undermining the tax structure.” Commenting again on the proposed extension of the Federal gasoline tax, the A. A. A. statement calls attention to the proposal for the abolition of other excise taxes and the substitution of a general manufacturers’ sales tax of 23, per cent. “We are not opposed to such a sales | pa: tax,” Mr. Henry continued. At its last Milady’s BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. It's too bad the arson laws don’t cover the folk who burn up the road. If the thermostat for the home oil burner is in the hallway you've prob- ably noticed that. if the front door is the furnace may start to I just mention this be- ¢ has written me to ask why t on a very cold day the motor heat ind 50 high after the car has been run a few miles. She has but to turn to the home analogy for the answer. The thermostat for the radiator shutters is getting a blast of cold air so that the Tadiator remaips covered until the mo- tor reaches a higher temperature. Those unthinking drivers who come at you with their blinding headlights may not intentionally mean to be a mencce. Why not switch your head- lights ircm the noar to the far focus and baci to t hind 0] not he able to stop in time to avoid a collision should he halt his car sud- denly. “I can't possibly press as hard upon the brake pedal as a man can,” one of them explained. Let’s get this straight. The ability of the modern car to stop is not as de- pendent on pedal pressure as upon the efficiency of the brakes and the skill of the driver in using them. If the clear- ance between the drums and the brake shoes is reduced to a minimum, and the brakes are equalized, stopping can be accomplished with comparatively low pedal , pressure. Another important factor is the ability of the driver to set the brakes in action promptly. There is too much inclination-to hesitate and deiiberate. Wide shoulders—the new style not for milady—should be appealing to her When she is at the wheel. It is sur- prising how the restrictions of clothing £0 often interfere with handling the car expertly in an emergency. Rough woolens are also coming into vogue, welcomed especially by those who en- oy _the novelty of taking a long drive Thn ot & wrinkle in & carfull. Cheers and a bouquet for the woman | 0 discovered that when the treads the tires are worn too smooth there | 3§ more risk of skidding if too much | pewer is applied to the reir wheels, or | 1 steering is not carefully conducted, than in stopping. The explanation is thnl medern brakes are fairly well Much of the chill of winter driving be removed by sealing up the tax diversion and evasion, icator seems to register | vices around the emergency brake d clutch-brake pedals with a little fglt. Where the car is equipped with o 2l the ‘way down, othf'.se annual convention, the American Auto- mobile Associgtion went on record as favoring the substitution of a general tax on manufactured products, with legitimate éxception for necessities, in place of existing special excise levies, which bear so heavily on the motor vehicle. But we are unalterably op- posed to a Federal gaso ine tax on any other basis than applied to other commodities.” | Road Construction Urgéd. So that States may go on with road construction and job-giving programs, immediate action by Congress in con- tinuing the regular Federal aid road appropriations was urged in resolutions adopted at the recent convention of the American Association of State Highway Officials. The assoclation points out that au- thorizations for Federal aid terminate with the fiscal year ending June .30, 1933 Because of the large road task and the great numbers of workmen de- pendent on highway building, Congress should again make $125,000,000 avail- able for roads for each of the fiscal 193¢ and 1935, declares the association. It is further asserted that even with snnual appropriations of $125,000,000 the States will have less Federal money for roads than in 1932, because emer- gency Federal road advances and loans from the Reconstruction Finance Cor- poration must be repaid to the Federal Government from future Federal aid allotment. W. C. Markham, executive secretary of the association, in his annual report declared: “In August, 1932, an average road building month, 333,000 men were em- ployed in State highway work, directly on the job, including Federal aid proj- ects. This means that one out of every 367 persons in the United States was earning his livelihood through State road construction by direct work, while there were at least two men preparing and transporting material to the jobs, making in all at least 1,000,000 men given employment for State road work only. If for no other reason than the g;ov'hion of jobs, Federal ald should continued on its present basis.” Change in Travel Reported. ‘The trend of travel during the past Summer season was toward resorts and play places adjacent to the large cen- ters of population, according to the District of Columbia division of the American Automobile Association. |~ “Vacationists remained nearer their | homes and adjusted their vacation plans | to their pocketbooks,” the division re- | ports. “Economy was the controlling | factor in the movement of the army of recreationists. All this was to the| advantage of resorts and historic shrines which in the past have suf- fered from the appeal of distant va- cation objectives.” | _The statement accompanied a report |that motor travel to Yellowstone Na- | tional Park, one of the outstanding | American tourist objectives. was off | nearly 30 per cent this vear as com- pared with 1931. The playground of | | geysers was visited during the 1932 | season by 127,985 motor visitors, as | compared with 180.380 last vear. Travel Expenditures Huge. Statisticians who have been at work on a mass of very large figures re- port their computations show highway transportation will prove to be an $11,000,000,000 enterprise in 1932, even though it is the third year of the de- | pression. | The study.is reported by the General Committee of the Highway and Build- ing Congress, which will convene in Detroit next month. The figure on the stature of highway | transportation is arrived at by de- | termining the mileage of motor vehicle | travel and multiplying it by the av- | erage cost of vehicle operation per mile. The result was a figure exceed- | | ing_$11,000,000,000. “Indications point to a gasoline consumption of approximately 15.000,- 000,000 gallons this year,” the report stated. “The average vehicle is esti- | mated to yield 12 miles to the gallon mileage traversed will be 180,000,000,000. | of fuel. which indicates that ' total “The most searching study of vehicle | operating costs, made by the engineer- | ing department of Iowa State College, | places the expense for the average car at 6.4 cents per mile. Multiplying the | 180,000,000,000 total mileage by this figure gives a product of $11,520.000,000. | Nine items are included in the esti- mated cost per mile of operation. They are fuel, oil, tires and tubes, mainte- nance, depreciation, registration fee, garage, interest and insurance.” Charles M. Upham, chairman of the Highway Congress Committee, finds that, although this year will show a decline in motor vehicie use as com- red with 1930 and 1931, it will com- ' pare favorably with the figure for 1929. Motoring some cold air will work into the driving | compartment through the ventilator. | Incidentally, if the conventional cowi ventilator leaks water in a rainstorm it is probably letting cold air in all the | | time. You can seal it up for the Winter. If you store your car in a public ga- | rage and do not use it except on week cndc, don't complain if it is moved about the building during its periods of rest. A car that stands all week with- out the motor stirring breeds all kinds of trouble. Automobile dealers try to use their used cars as much as possible. | Disuse is fatal. It would be interesting if the sta- tistically inclined would figure out whether married men are more liberal buyers of new cars than bachelors. My | guess is that after all is said and done the progressive wife is the one who makes many a sele when she looks at £ w0 the p ing to ride in.” There’s more than a chuckle in the story of the filling station attendant who had to ask the owner of the 16- cylinder car to switch off the motor so he could make some headway flling up the tank with gas. Idiing the motor during the refueling process is not only wasteful, but dangerous. If there are one or two skips in & cylinder some of the unburned gas may explode in the exhaust. -And if you have ob- served you know that the exhaust pipe of the modern car comes pretty close to the fuel intake. A hot-air heating system is usually more satisfactory for the tcnneau. In improved form there is no possibility of exhaust fumes getting into the car, ex- cept when the car is stationary with motor idling. It is best to switch off the heater during such periods. For those who sit in the rear and who do not care to have heat the smart equip- ment shops offer foot muffs. They can be left in the car when your passenger | steps out. Sahara “Hotel Chain. Opens. ' ‘With most of the conveniences of city hostelries a_chain of hotels stretching across the Sahara Desert has just been opened. They are at Toug({fium the terminus of the Phillippeville-Biskra Railway; at the oasis of Ouargla and El Golea, south of Touggourt; at Peni Abbes, south of Colomb Bechar, and at Timimoun, 400 miles south Jf Oran. in the midst of the wildest desert. number of rooms varies from 12 to 30 and each has running water. There Pequirs’ "&fh large “nhf.:rh. supply. s g baths are avallable, however. Shower | schedule | School will have |29 little children from one of the mis- | sions on Thursday at 3:45 in the Glrli‘ ‘The | “The cloth is made from ADJUST NEW CARS 10-TIRE EFFECTS Engineers Find Remedy for “Shimmy” and “Wander” Laid to Balloons. Special Dispatch to The Star. DETROIT, December 17.—Tire pe- culiarities that engineering skill has had to cope with in producing the new mo- tor cars for 1933 have been a topic of discussion this week. At Cleveland the Soclety of Automo- tive Engineers devoted a sesion to this subject, and progressive steps that have resulted in the production and use of new super-balloons of the “gir-wheel” types were analyzed. .They were sur- veyed as the result of research conduct- ed by a tire company and an automobile factory stafl. Dr. B. J. Lemon of the United States Rubber Co. talked from the tire-maker's side and Tore Franzen, experimental engineer of the Chrysler forces, trans- mitted findings from the chassis and spring suspension angle. Facts Mr. Franzen revealed embodied the com- posite findings of road testing conduct- ed over a period of months, which were reported by Fred M. Zeder, vice presi- dent in charge of Chrysler engineering work. Effects on Car Studied. The findings made clear differences 1n car reactions to tire contact with the roadway, recurring since the first bal- loon types came into use. Tire “wander,” for example, gives a car the motion of & fish swimming. Its chief cause' is under-inflation of tires, and low-pressure tires generally are prone to it. A remedy for it has been found by aitering the angle of the king pins in the front axle. More reversible steering gears have helped, together with mcrebn:edfln freedom of steering joints and bearings. ! Then there is “tramping* which comes from lack of balance in wheel and tire assembly. The weight added at one point by the addision of the tire valve and stem has been known to cause this. Wheel balancing machines have been developed to correct it. Tire “Shimmy” Traced. ire “shimmy" is allied to “tramping” nn'g also may be traced to steering sys- tems. In most cars now, the kick- shackle in the spring suspension elimi- | nates it or a cross-steering arrange- ment is restorted to. Mr. F‘rlnzen‘i‘plpern%oe?uw cede that parking W u tires is mmPe difficult than it is with conventional tire equipment. To meet the new conditions set up by the super- balloons, increases have been made in the steering gear efficiency in prefer- ence to increasing gear ra to avoid unpleasant high-speed condi- tions common to high-gear ratios. Riding quality, it is pointed out, as on to con- pressure | vet is a highly abstract subject and functions other dent on many e Up to date, there than those of tires. is no measuring _stick available ror‘ | riding quality and it is necessary to be satisfied with opinions. ¥ “The consensus, in Mr. Franzen's view, is tha e lower pressure give increased comfort. Some of this comfort comes from the climination of high frequency ostilla- | tions which ordinarly manifest them- selves as body noises and rattles. Fuel Use Increase Small “Step by step.” he said, “it was found out how to apply the new tires so that today a tire life very similar to that of the standard balloon tire may be an- ticipated.” Prswering a _question _whether takes more gasoline to run a car with Jow pressure tire than with the con- ventional kind. Mr. Franzen cited test findings showing the differences are in- significant. Two cars identical in every respect were equipped with 17x5.25 (the balloon | | size) and 16x6 tires, respectively. For a cross-country run of 1,000 miles, the fuel consumption of the car with the 17x5.25 tires were 16.1 miles per gallon, while that of the car with the 16x6 tires was 15.6 miles per gallon. Summing “up the recommendations for the use of super-balloons, Mr. Pran- zen enumerated better traction. better starts, beter stops, less body vibration. longer body life. better ride and better appearance in their favor. (Copyright. 1932. by the North American Y Newsp Alliance, Inc.) ‘Y. W. C. A. News The Christmas play, “Why the Chimes Rang.” will be presented by the Girl Reserves in Barker Hillat 4 o'clock today. All parents and friends are in- vited. From 3 to 10 p.m. today the Girl Re- serves are exhibiting all the dolls that | were dressed in the “doll hospital” in the third floor assembly room at the Y. W. C. A ‘The committee meetings for the week are as follows: Monday, chapter coun- cil, at 11 am.; Tuesday, food service, 2 pm. R general open house Christmas party for young people will be held in Barker Hall from 8:30 to 11 o'clock December 21. Carols at all the centers will be sung by Y. W. C. A. groups ezch day during the lunch and dinner periods begin- ning December 21. The caroling is as follows: Seventeenth end K streets, 12:30 and 6:20 p.m. Wednesday. 12:30 p.m. Thursday, 12 noon and 6:20 p.m. Priday, 12:30 p.m. Saturday; 614 E street, 11:30 am. Thursday and 12:30 p.m. Friday. Sat- urday afternoon and evening, from 3 until 9, carols will be sung at Chil- dren’s Hospital, E street, cy Hospital, Union Station and Mrs. Ed- win B. Parker's residence. The Wednesday song leading group will meet at 7:45, December 21. Miss Pearl Waugh's class, “Princi- ples of Piaro Playing.” will meet at 11 n t'the Y. W. C. A. < of Cenjral High Christmas party for Reserve Club rooms. ‘The Girl Reserve Glee Club will sing carols in lobby of the K street buile at 6:20 PFriday, and a group from club has been selected to carol on Christmas eve st the hos- pitals. The Independent Band, with C. J. Brown, jr., as bandmaster, will give a sacred Christmas program at 8 o'clock December 18, at 614 E street. ‘The_3-E Club will meet December 19. ‘The” Art Club will meet December 22 at 3 o'clock. The Business Women's Glee Club will meet Tuestay. The Blue Triangle and Silverelle Club girls will have a joint Ch: party Thursdav night. ‘The Silverelle girls are being hos- tesses to a small company of little boys and girls Friday night. Christmas holidays in the general education department begin Decem- ber 19 and classes will not resume un- til January 3. The Kamp Kahlert Kouncil annouces the presentation of a play by Elizabeth Gay entitled “The Romance Hunters,” directed by Mrs. Alice Sigworth Morse. . Green Trousers Coming. Men in England will wear trousers next Summer. This is the word sent from Cambridge, home of the university, and possible future seat of students al trouser styles. Cambridge stuc - rea are ordering the new shades. fine worsted tios. This is | t the super-balloons with their | it| | mail | ported its operating expenses to the | port of operating expenses THE DAY YOUR WIFE HAD THE CAR XMAS SHOPPING, AND YOU WERE PEEKING N AT FOUND T PARKED AND THE PACKAGES —~ AVIATION BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON. ONTHS of investigation of M the domestic airmail 000,000 is regarded as revision of the system against which directed durin the past two years. Criticism % the United States is beginning to bear fruit. :gproprhuon from $20,000,000 to $19,- e first sf the contract airmail situation in Reduction of likely to be made toward much criticism has been fip as not been directed against the operators who are striving to give honest service so much as against methods of admin- istration, which, it is charged, have made possible favoritism on a large scale and which are said to have operated to destroy compe- tition and create a dangerous approach to an air transport monopoly. The reduced appropriation was passed by the House during the | past week without an effort being made either in committce or on the floor to save the $1,000,000 vvhich had been cut by the Appropria- tions Committee from the budget estimate. The reduction had ihe support of members of the House Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, as the result of their own investigations and a report submitted to them during the week University, who was appointed by the committee last Spring to . by Prof. John B. Crane of Harvard investigate the entire airmail system. Dr. Crane’s report, which bears out | in striking fashion testimony submit- | ted to the committee by scores of Wit- nesses during the last session of Con- | gress, is submitted with seven recom- mendations, which areto be the basis for a legislative program now being | considered by a special subcommittee appointed for the purpose during the past week. These reccmmendations | follow: 1. That the airmail appropriation for the coming fiscal year be reduced by | $1.000.000. 2. That certain of the extensions of service authorized by the Post Office Department before and since the pas- sage of the Watres-McNary act be can- celed. 3. That greater limitations be placed upcn the Postmaster General's power to grant _extensions and to make rates. 4. That a field audit of the accounts of the airmail carriers be authorized | and the rates for airmail be determined | n accordance with the costs revealed by | the audit. 5. That the cost-balancing principle of rate-making be required and that the administrative machinery in the Post Office Department be enlarged to en- able this policy to be carried out. 6. That if the formula system of | rate-payment be continued, the Watres- | McNary ect be amended, reducing the maximum rate of pay per mile frem $1.25 to 75 cents. 7. That Pan-American Airways be included under tbe uniform system of accounts for airmail carriers. “Inflated” Costs Alleged. Dr. Crane declared that he is con- vinced by his investigation that meny airmal carriers are reporting “inflated” cost accounts to the Post Office De- partment. He urged that continuous fleld audits of the accounts of all con- tract holders be made to check against such inflation. When the extent of the inflation of accounts becomes known, he reported, further reductions in air- payments may be made without injuring the stability of the industry. “One large operator,” he said, “re- Post Office Department last year to be a sum over $900,000 larger than the re- for the same year which it submitted to its board of_directors.” In recommending the cancellation of existing_extensions made by the Post Office Department, without competition or bidding. Dr. Crane submitted a long list of smaller lines which he said could be eliminated without seriously impairing airmail service. He suggested that the Watres-McNary act be amend- ed to provide that no extensions be granted unless a certain specific mini- mum amount of mail be available for carriage, and, if after six months or a year this minimum is not realized, that the extension be automatically can- caled. This, he pointed out, would eliminate the “political extensions” which have been made, in some cases, because of pressure brought to bear by members of Congress direetly inf g Representative Mead of New York, chairman of the Post Offices Commit- tee, said that it had been suggested to him that no extensions be granted un- til the airmail revenues reach a total of $10,000,000, and that after this limit is passed 25 per cent of all such rev- enucs be applied to expansion of the airmail service. Such a policy, it was | claimed, eventually would eliminate the | subsidy feature, which is objectionable to many members of Congress. Lines Face Elimination. Among the lines which probably will be eliminated first are those between Los and Salt Lake City and %e.twun Columbis, 8. C., December 1. Readjustment of schedules all through the country probably will become necessary. - Not nnl{ will the domestic airmail operators face & $1,000,000 reduction in the coming fiscal year, they also must face the loss of approximately $700,000, which is to be cut from the airmail payments before the close of the cur- rent fiscal year. Second Assistant Postmaster General W. I Glover has predicted. that, al- though present reductions of Federal payments will hurt the airmail opera- tors, few of whom are operating with- out heavy loss, the time is coming in the not distant future when the car- riers will be able to reduce their llr; passenger the airmail da grow; that the volume of traffic will increase and that the el ment of safety in flying is increasing all But for the recent increase | noon January 3. | Amateur Air Pilot's Association, which loss. This they are willing to do only because of an abiding faith in the future of aviation. They feel that if they can but weather the present de- pression they will enjoy solid success when conditions begin to improve. Cruise Stop Scheduled Here. Sportsman pilots who will participate in the second annual Winter cruise to | Florida in connection with the all- American air races, to be held at Miami beginning January 5, are to stop at Washington-Hoover _Airport at about The United States is sponsoring the cruise, has announced that it expects between 40 and 50 pilots to take part. Last year 24 planes made the cruise. A new event in connection with the cruise will be a handicap race over the lust lap of the course between Daytona and Miami for a prize of $2,500 and the Henry L. Doherty trophy. Pilots participating in the cruise are |to assemble at the Aviation Country Club, Hicksville, Long Island. Tuesday morning, January 3. The main flight squadron is to take off there at 10 o'clock that morning. prominent sportsman pilots, including several of the Eastern governors of the | | ascociation, are organizing State flight squadrens, which will rendezvous at some centrally located airport in their | thome States and join the main group cither at Hicksville or at one of the control stops. Washington is to be the first con- tro. stop. other control points being Greensboro, N. C.: Augusta. Ga., and Jacksonville and Daytona, Fia The cruise is to be flown under direc- tion of a Contest Committee composed of A. Felix du Pont, jr.; Efic Wood, F. William Zelcer, Lawrence Tenure, jr.: Jchn S. Reaves, Maurice Ames and Jessamine Goddard. The cruise is lim- ited to amateur pilots as defined by the Urited States Amateur Pilots' Associ- aion. Engine Weight Reduced. ‘The lowest specific weight ever achieved in a standard radial air-cooled aviation engine is claimed for a new engine which has béen granted an ap- proved-type certificate by the aeronau- tics branch, Department of Commerce. The engine weighs only 1.2 pounds per horsepower and very closely approaches the ideal set by the late Thomas A. Edison, who said that the airplane en- gine must be reduced to & pound per horsepower before aviation could be con- sidered as emerging from its infancy. The new engine is new only in the matter of approval by the Department of Commerce. Actually it has been sub- jected to exhaustive service tests for a period of a year to assure its depend- ability under actual operating condi- tions. On top of the year's actual serv- ice the motor has passed with flying colors the gruelling tests to which the Department of Commerce subjects all engines submitted to it for approved type certification. The engine, produced by Pratt & Whitney and designated as the Series ‘TIC Hornet, is rated by the Depart- ment of Commerce for 700 horsepower at 2,000 revolutions per minute. Its weight, without accessorles, is 840 pounds. The new engine is being equipped for use with adjustable pitch propellers and is designed not only for commercial op- eration, but also for military use. It is regarded as one of the year's out- standing aeronautical achievements. The TIC has a total displacement of 1,690 cubic inches and & compression ratio of 10 to 1. At full ttle the engine consumes 0.55 pound of gasoline per hour, ——— Arms Against Bears Wanted. Villagers and shepherds in the Low?r Tarta Mountains of Slovakia are de- manding arms and ammunition as pro- tection against the great number of bears’ which are moving down into the valleys. Heretofore authorities have considered axes and clubs to be suffi- cient protection. Wolves also have ap- peared at lower altitudes than at this season in many years, and old-time res- '%“‘mfl say the invasion presliges a severe T. ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S PUZZLE RIUIAIGIGIAREFRIOWIE ] jLam [TIEIS] A number of | RADIO COMMISSION IN FEAR OF CHANCE General Housecleaning Predicted Under New Administration. | | | Is BY ROBERT MACK. Despite President Hoover's failure to include radio regulation in his plan for sweeping reorganization of Federal agencies and bureaus, an air of anxiety still pervades the officers of the Fed- eral Ragio Commission in Washington and afield. In the higher executive posts it is felt that the incoming Democratic admin- istration will effect a more or less gen- eral housecleaning. filling the jobs held by Republicans with Democratic pat- ronage seekers. The commission itself will be affected in that regard, since one post formerly held by a Republican is vacant. There is still talk of a possible com- mission _reorganization, reducing its membership from five to three, or even of transfer of the commission to the Commerce Department under an as- | sistant secretary, with all commissioners eliminated. In addition there are the President’s | recommendations for further pay cuts this year, which would mean reductions from base pay of nearly 15 per cent, and a recommended budget reduction for the next fiscal year of nearly $100.000 in_commission appropriations. Within a few days the commission is expected | to announce the release of some 35 em- | ployes in the field, including radio in- spectors and their assistants. Should | the budget reduction be approved, it | might mean release of additional em- | ployes both in Washington headquarters | and in the field, | failure to recommend radio conselida- tions in his reorganization plan, accord- | ing to official observers, lies in the fact | that the radio division ef the Commerce Department, constituting the field force, | | only a few months ago was absorbed by the commission. There is now pending in the Senate Interstate Commerce Committee a bill to establish a Pederal Communications Commission, absorbing the Radio Com- mission and all of the radio, telegraph and telephone functions of the Inter- state Commerce Commission, State De- partment and otiver agencies, excepting only the military communications serv- ices. This measure, however, is not ex- pected to receive attention at the cur- | rent session. 'REQUESTS REVIEW OF U. S. RADIO LAWS Rev. Robert Shuler, Pastor-Broad- caster, Asks Writ of Certiorari. Renewed attempts are about to be made to have the United States Su- preme Court pass upon the comstitu- tionality of the laws governing Ameri- can radio. On the plea of freedom of speech, the Rev. Robert Shuler, Los Angeles pastor-broadcaster, whose broadcasting station was silenced a year ago by the Federal Radio Commission, has filed for a writ of certiorari for a review of his case. In the now famous WIBO case. the Radio Commission it- self, reversed in the lower court, is preparing to carry an appeal forward. Dr. Shuler wants his radio station reinstated, though the commission or- dered it off the air and was sustained by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, on the grounds that he was using it to attack and abuse people in public and private life. His counsel is L. G. Caldwell, veteran lawyer of the Chicago Tribune'’s _successful free speech fight in the United States Su- preme Court against the Minnesota newspaper “gag law"” case. The cther appeal may revolve around the question “who cwns the ether,” and the legality of the commission's meth- od of distributing radio facilities among the States. The same court last week reversed the commission’s deci- sion, ordering WIBO and WPCC, cago, eliminated to make way for WJKS, Gary, Ind. The 's decision was based entirely on the equalization clause of the act, but a 3-10-2 majority of the held it was “arbitrary and caj " in that it gave facilities to one station at the expense of on the mere grounds of “State quotas.” Mabel Walker Willebrandt, former Assistant Attorney General, represented WQKS, which sought the Chicago stations’ fa- cilities chiefly on the grounds that Ii- linois is overquota and Indiana under- quota in their due allotments of radio facilities. Although a half dozen attempts have been made to hava the Supreme Court pass on the constitutionality of the ra- dio laws in the last few years, that tribunal has never written an opinion in a radio case. It has accepted juris- diction in two appeals, but in both in- stances the cases were remanded to the lower courts, The ex-Kaiser will not leave Holland ‘unless he is asked to return to Germany, but will do g0 on request, according to J. Kan, a member of the Doorn Town Counell, who recently visited him. " 14th St. N.W., DEcatur 1910 he reason for President Hoover's | MERICA’S inventive genius apparently has been suffer- ‘Behind the ing neither intellectual nor A physical depression, judg- ing from the continued outcrop- ping of new electronic devices— some of them amazing musical instruments and others simply new radio “gadgets.” Represent- ing the fruits of intensive radio research, both in great labora- tories and individual workshops, many of these devices bid fair to revolutionize various phases of the radio arts. Indeed, some of them have al- ready been adapted to public en- tertainment, home amusement, radio broadcasting and the public rostrum. Others await only the return of more prosperous times and a readier market. It seems that only television need now be awaited to make the cycle of radio-related inventions complete. Probably the most interesting of all recent radio developments is the new radio-phonograph- iano combination being manu- 'actured by the German piano firm of Mechstein under the pat- ents of John Hays Hammond, jr., of Gloucester, Mass, noted in- ventor of radio control devices, including radio-guided torpedoes, ships and aircraft. As recently demonstrated in New York, this device, looking ike a grand piano, can, by touch- ing the keys lightly, be made to sound like a full orchestra with | saxophone, drums, piano and even harp tones produced in full harmony and with enough volume to fill a giant auditorium. The vibrations are picked up by mag- netic microphones within the plano to produce a remarkable amplification. Inside the piano is a radio and the phonograph is in a small cabinet alongside the jano. The cabinet contains the loud speaker from which all the sound emanates. Somewhat similar, but not on such a massive scale, is an instru- ment recently put on the Ameri- can market. It has a 32-note | keyboard which is attachable to ' the audio stage of any radio re- t ceiving set and can be played | either as a solo instrument or |as an accompaniment of the in- coming radio program. It is sup- posed to be very easy to play, and produces a wide range of tones simulating various orchestral in- truments and capable also of be- ing swelled to auditorium volume. These instruments, of course, | employ the electronic tube in their amplification processes. This tube, sometimes called the “elec- tric eye” and actually like the | simple radio set tube, is now be- | ing applied also to the printing | arts for the automatic machine- | setting of type from typewritten | copy, the making of half-tones by photoelectric scanning, etc. This, of course, is not a radio develop- | ment, though it shows to what di- | verse fields the radio tube is be- ing adapted. | From RCA Victor Co., of Cam~ | den, N. J., comes the report that it has now put into production its new so-called velocity micro~ phone, an odd-looking affair de- | signed primarily for use in radio studios and +looking no more like | the conventional microphone than | the old cat-whisker crystal set | 1ooks like the modern cabinet re- ceiver. | Called a revolutionary improve= ment, this mike reproduces sound ‘with utmost fidelity, covering the entire tonal range irom 0 to 14,000 | cycles. Where the usual mike em- | ploys diaphragms the velocity | mike uses a sensitive duralumin which vibrates exactly with the | vibrations of the air particles set |in motion by sound waves. It can pick up any kind of sound and reproduce it, and its advent into radio augurs the discarding of much of the complicated sound effects apparatus now needed in radio studios to simulate such sounds as doorbells, revolver shots, etc., which heretofore have to be “faked” because the old-style microphones cannot pick them up adequately. * x ok x ROADCASTERS of the future are likely to get their pre- rather than in the hard school of experience, in the opinion of Al- fred J. McCosker, president of the National Association of Broad- casters and managing director of WOR, Newark. Radio broadcast- ing, he holds, is having such a profound influence on the arts that the higher educational in- | stitutions are expected to estab- | lish radio professorships. “The broadcaster of the future,” said Mr. McCosker, “will have to be an erudite individual—learned in many subjects. He will be re- quired to know' music, composi- tion and appreciation, public speaking, the interpretation of current events, mass psychology, literature and, at least, the ele- ments of pedagogy and radio en- gineering. “Among these I would stress mass psychology, since that in- volves the determination of what the public wants and the char- acter of its presentation. Thera are only two places one can learn it, in the editorial chairs of the great metropolitan dailies, where their occupants absorb it intui- tively, or at the hands of the emi- :fi{“ psychologists in our univer- es. “Of course, every one cannot be an editor, but those who have joined the radio stations have made themselves invaluable. They are alert, .energetic, original and tenacious of ‘purpose. Conse- quently, it seems, to me, the schools of journalism, now ap- proximating 50 in the United States, might take cognizance of this fact. radio in one form or another. Co- lumbia University has a class in radio advertising, while another school gives & course in announc- ing. While that is aegood begin- ning, it only scratches the sur- face. Radio is having a pro- found influence all the arts P ————— Reduced Parking Rates Evefiinn and Sundays Gone. . 3OC Garage E St. at 12th—Most Convenient liminary training in universities | “A few colleges are nibbling at | Microphone BY THE RADIO EDITOR, and, in general, upon the lives of the masses. “This should warrant more than the passive interest of our higher institutions of leum&% at least to the point of establishing Sum- mer courses in the subjects enum- erated above, if not the actual es- tablishment of radio professor- ships and the awarding of de- grees.” * k% O is America’s oldest radic announcer “still in har- ness?” Is it Lambdin Kay, the “Little Colonel” of WSB, Atlanta; Leo Fitzpatrick, the “Merry Old Chief” of the Kansas City Night- hawks, formerly with WDAF, Kansas City, but now with WJR, Detroit; George Hay, ¢he “Solemn Old Judge,” now with WSM, | Nashville, or “Ty” Tyson of WWJ, | Detroit? All of these noted announcers have been prominent in radio al- most since American broadcasting began a little over 12 years ago. Comes now a claim from the Pa= cific Coast that Harrison Holli- way, manager of KFRC, San Francisco, is really the oldest American radio announcer still on the air. Holliway built his own amateur station in 1919, calling it 6BN. In | November, 1920, at about the time KDKA, pioneer American station, | first went on the air, he began | speaking over 6BN. Then he affili- ated with one of the first Pacific Coast broadcasting stations, called then KSL. He is still broadcast- ing, and the claim is made for him that no one antecedes him who is still a regular announcer. “ X X X X RADIO again this year has joined in the post-foot ball season pastime of selecting all- America teams on the basis of the performances viewed by its ex- perts and announcers. For N. B. C, Andy Kerr, Col- gate coach, collaborating with N. B. C. announcers who covered | this season’s games in all parts of | the country, has named the fol- lowing selections: Paul Moss, Pur- due, and Frank Slavich, Santa Clara, ends; Ernest Smith, South- ern California, and Joseph Kurth, Notre Dame, tackles; Robert Smith, Colgate, and William Corbus, Stanford, guards; Law- rence Ely, Nebraska, center; War- ren Heller, Pittsburgh, and John Cain, Alabama, halfbacks; Harry Newman, Michigan, quarterback, gndk}lay Horstmann, Purdue, full- ack. For C. B. 8, Ted Husing, ace sports announcer, picked the fol- lowing on the basis of the 12 games he has covered: Ted Daily Pittsburgh, and Red Williamson Michigan, ends; Ed Krause, Notre Dame, and Joe Kurth, Notre Dame, tackles; Milt Summerfelt, Army, and C. Onder, Pittsburgh guards; Jack Del Isola, Fordham center; Bob Lassiter, Yale, and Warren Heller, Pltf.rflu!gh, half- backs; Harry Newman, Michigan, quarterback, and Ed Panowski Fordham, fullback, DILL WOULD ABOLISH EXAMINERS® DIISION Assafls Commtssiort Hearing fo nates, elegating i lmmnx! mmm} d Radio Commis- slon for improperly delegating its pub- lic hearing duties to subordinates, Senator Dill, Democrat, of Washington, is sponsoring legislation which, in ef- fect, would abolish the examiners’ di- vision of the commission. In the Davis omnibus radio bill, re- ported out by the Senate Interstate Commerce Committee, Senator Dill in- serted an amendment making it man- datory for the commission, or one of its members, to preside at hearings. He said the commission never has been given authority to appoint examiners and that it is conducting itself “like a select body, such as the Supreme Court.” Citing complaints that have been re- ceived from stations about the com- mission’s purported aloofness, Senator | Dill said it should do that work itself, “or else we might as well have one- man rule of radio.” Prior to the Ra- dio Commission’s creaticn in 1927 the Secretary of Commerce had charge of regulation. The commission created its examin- ers’ division two years ago. It now | consists of Ellis A. Yost. chief exam- iner; Elmer W. Pratt and Rosel H. Hyde, all attorneys. Mr. Pratt and Mr. Hyde were formerly in the commission’s | legal division. while Mr. Yost came to | the commissicn from Huntington, W. | Va., where he was United States at- | torney. PAY PROGRAMS WANTED Australian Listeners Dislike Gloomy Drama or Music. Bright and cheerful programs, rather than tragic or gloomy drama or music, are preferred by Austrian listeners, ac- | cording to a recent survey conducted by Ravag, Vienna publication, with the co- | operation of the University of Vienna, | "Fully 50 per cent of the 110,312 lis- | teners” who to qu i | tune in by stated they | preferred above waltzes in the country, |and even opera is greeted with indif- ‘hrence. Plays are liked, however, if they are not too serious. Very few listeners showed any appreciation of in- structive lectures. Authorized Distributors Delco Batteries CREEL BROTHERS 1811 14th St. N.W. Decatur 4220 AAAAAARAAAAAAS -9} BEFORE YOU f‘:“f PUT IN THAT ANTI- FREEZE +—be sure the costly solution isn't going to flow away in a few hours— Let Us Clean and Repair the Radiator. No more loss on Anti-Freeze NATIONAL SERVICELCO INC. 22201 UTSING: MR- RARAARARRARAAINS